Transport Available Around the Clock
The LifeFlight® transport service is based in Miami, Florida and provides specialized advanced life support and critical care patient transport by ground and air ambulance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service area includes South Florida, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
LifeFlight® is a transport service that conducts inter-facility transport of patients to intensive care units, emergency departments, and medical surgical units. On request, LifeFlight® also transfers patients from Nicklaus Children's Hospital to other facilities and also handles third-party transfers for patients seeking transport to other facilities.
The team is committed to utilizing the appropriate transport (air or ground) to enhance patient outcome, safety and cost effectiveness to best serve our community.
Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Transports
LifeFlight® transports patients representing a broad range of ages, including:
- neonatal patients (birth to 28 days; preterm through term)
- infants (29 days to 1 year)
- pediatric patients (age 1 through 17 years)
- and adult patients (18 years and older).
- Non-pediatric patients are not transferred to the Nicklaus Children's main campus.
Critical Care Life Support Systems
The LifeFlight® program safely transports more 4,000 infants and children per year to Nicklaus Children's Hospital. Patients come from local clinics and hospitals as well as from referring centers throughout Florida, the Caribbean, and South and Central America.
LifeFlight® carries some of the most advanced life-support systems such as:
- neonatal and pediatric ventilators
- defibrillators
- intubation equipment
- cardio-respiratory and hemodynamic monitors
- infusion devices
- whole-body hypothermia capabilities
- transport phototherapy capabilities
- transcutaneous Pa02 monitors
- emergency medications
- transport incubators and other equipment necessary for IV therapy
- cardio-pulmonary resuscitation
- care of the critical patient at altitude by a team comprised of critical care transport ECLS
About the LifeFlight® Team
The LifeFlight® transport team is comprised of multidisciplinary medical professionals and includes registered nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians in a variety of transport roles, including but not limited to critical care, advanced life support, and specialty care transport.
All clinical team members hold a national certification in their respective disciplines, with many team members holding transport-specific certifications. The LifeFlight® transfer center is staffed by communications specialists who are also nationally certified flight communicators.
About the Fleet
The LifeFlight® fleet includes:
- Six hospital-owned and leased ground ambulances that are specially equipped to provide critical care or advanced life-saving support for patients.
- A hospital-owned Sikorsky® S76 C+ helicopter and a leased Sikorsky S76 C++ helicopter. Both are operated by PHI Air Medical, which is equipped to care for any acuity-level patient of any age.*
- Fixed-wing airplanes contracted through Aitheras (primary provider) or other contract carriers (if primary provider unavailable).*
*Nicklaus Children's Hospital is not a direct air carrier. Aircraft, both helicopters and fixed wing, are operated pursuant to contract with Nicklaus Children's by companies that are FAA certified. Licenses for all associated transport craft (ground and air) can be found at Florida Department of Health site.